Networks such as wireless local area network (WLAN) based on Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 technology are popular networks. The IEEE 802.11 family includes a series of half-duplex over-the-air modulation techniques that use the same basic protocol. Frames in IEEE 802.11 include a physical layer (PHY) header and a media access control (MAC) header.
The PHY layer is the lowest layer. In a WLAN, the PHY layer interacts with the MAC layer. Also, the PHY layer performs data encoding, transmission, reception, and decoding.
The MAC layer acts as an interface between the PHY layer and the logical link control (LLC) layer. The MAC layer emulates a full-duplex logical communications channel in a multi-point network.
The LLC layer provides multiplexing mechanisms that enable network protocols to coexist within a multipoint network and to be transported over the same network medium. The LLC layer interfaces with the MAC layer and the network layer.